epidemiology | EVENT ★ RECOLLECTION DAY

WELCOME HOME

Audentes fights its way through the maze, bests the portal guard, and finally, the portal activates. Audentes is faced with a choice, and after some debate, the following conclusions are reached: the correctional officers, annoying as they were to have to deal with, were only doing their jobs. They're to be allowed through the portal with Audentes, and returned to their native planets. The prisoners, most of them murderers or worse, will be given the choice of being conscripted into ALASTAIR to do some good, or left behind in the maze. And, finally, Mavahari. It's agreed that it would be too dangerous to let her go, but she had been helpful through their struggles in the maze. She's taken prisoner to be brought back with them, a decision she clearly doesn't appreciate. She glowers, but doesn't resist.

With these things decided, Audentes, the correctional officers, nearly all of the prisoners, and Mavahari step through the portal . . . and it's quite a festive scene they'll arrive on.

Audentes is the talk of the castle today -- all the teams currently in Oska had been following the drama as best they could and rooting for Audentes to return home safely. They're delighted to have them back, and Audentes is showered with jovial appreciation and celebratory drinks as soon as they arrive. In fact, the Recollection Day festival technically ended already, but they kept the party going just so that Audentes wouldn't miss it. And yes, technically they did fail the mission on Leramzen and another team had to pick up the slack . . . but you can't win them all, right? The general opinion is that they did their best, surely. And ALASTAIR's biggest team of newbies survived, which is the important part! Anyone still injured from the ordeal will be ushered straight to the medical center to be cared for, no excuses. The (former) prisoners are taken away to be shown their new jobs and posts, the correctional officers are guided toward the outbound transportation, and Mavahari is shown to a holding cell.

If there is any shadow on the party, though, it's an undercurrent of muttering: Audentes isn't the only one that's had run-ins with Zymandis. More and more teams are beginning to see signs of them, and some teams present have even run into them directly. Some fought their way out, some snuck out . . . and some didn't survive it at all.

There will be memorial services held for George on the second day, as well as Team Kuran, who didn't survive their encounter with Zymandis last week. Friends speak up solemnly, fondly remembering good times had with the fallen recruits. But the somber mood doesn't last long, as recruits pay their dues and then return to the party to celebrate ALASTAIR's cause, how far it's come, and its successes so far.

The other teams head out after three days of celebration, leaving Oska to Audentes. They'll have three full weeks to recover from their ordeal and rest up for the next mission -- better make the most of your time!

RECOLLECTION DAY FEAST

The entire castle is draped festively in ALASTAIR purple and silver once again. In one of the studies the traditional feast has been set up, with the kitchen porting food directly into this room, where it's set out along long tables at the edges of the room. You can find anything here, food to suit any kind of diet from any kind of planet at all. There are no promises that all food will suit all diets, though. But still, if you want to try the bubbling pot of orange with the little worms that keep trying to struggle out of it, no one's going to stop you.

Oska's designated storyteller, a gently green lady who seems to have recently burst into large pink blossoms, stands at the center of the room, nursing a wineglass full of something silvery and addressing the room at large. She seems to be going over the history of Oska, to anyone who will listen.

The gist of it is that Oska was once an entire world, densely populated and well known for its music and carefully bred hunting companion animals. However, its energy was severely unbalanced, and the world was swiftly coming undone. ALASTAIR recruits of the time realized it was the very animals the natives so loved that were the focus of all of the planet's energy, but by the time they had finally figured it out and began to cull the animals, it was too late. This little scrap is all they managed to save. What locals remained eventually died out, being too few to repopulate by themselves, and ALASTAIR opted to move in and reclaim the space, so as not to let this world go entirely forgotten. With their very base of operations as a reminder of what can happen to any world at any time, ALASTAIR of today is not likely to forget the necessity of their mission any time soon.

Come for the food, stay for the slightly depressing story, and leave again fuller and maybe a little more somber than you were before.

THE OBSERVATORY

This room is usually home to a large telescope, a ceiling that slides open, and a lot of gauzy, ethereal decoration. Today it's been cleared out for what seems to be a room-wide, three dimensional documentary, playing on repeat throughout the festival. Images of a vast star system are projected into this room from no identifiable source, floating holograms the viewer can walk between and admire from any angle. A deep, soothing, presumably male voice speaks over the moving images, describing the action as it unfolds.

In the beginning, there was one universe. It was vast and eternal, and most importantly, self-sustaining. There was no reason to doubt it would go on forever. The images at this point are on a cosmic scale, an impossible number of tiny stars swirling in silent patterns. We don't know what shattered the harmony, we only know that shatter it, it did. We call this the Cataclysm.

This part is clearly an artist's interpretation. Slivers of light snake across the universe like the cracks in a broken window, shaking apart the entire scene. Some of the broken sections implode onto themselves in beautiful colors; some of them spread out and consume their neighbors. It's beautiful in a way, and probably completely visually inaccurate to whatever the real event looked like. The voice continues:

The Universe became the Multiverse. The harmony is broken, and the energy no longer balances out. Worlds are thrown into disarray and chaos, some burning out immediately while others struggle on as they are able. There are even dozens of iterations of the same reality existing in some places, just barely splintered from one another and overlapping in impossible ways. The shards of our formerly united reality are nearly limitless.

There are flashes of worlds as the narrator's voice continues. Each one lasts no longer than five seconds, filling the room and then flashing into the next scene. These are flashes of real worlds, broadcast up from the mysterious Viewing Hall and all of its mirrors down in the dungeons. Recruits watching diligently enough may even catch sight of familiar scenes.

This is ALASTAIR's duty. We travel from reality to reality, doing what we must to equalize the energy. The necessary tasks can vary wildly, as wildly as the realities themselves do. In some worlds we find great success, snatching them from the brink of destruction and allowing them to continue on, rebalanced. Some worlds cannot be saved.

The images shift, this time replaying old, completed missions. The variety is huge here, too. One team of blue humanoids dressed in ALASTAIR purple struggles to pull a mammoth out of a tar pit. Two small, doglike recruits dash through a dark alleyway, dodging laser fire. A team of something human-shaped but bundled up in spacesuits climb carefully through the weightlessness of space along the outside edge of an enormous spaceship.

The narrator has just one more line to add: Ours is no easy task, but if not us. . . who?

The informational recording fades out, and five minutes later, plays again from the beginning.

TRAINING ROOM

The training room has been repurposed for the festival, and anyone looking to actually sharpen combat skills will probably go away unsatisfied. A tropical beach has been simulated, complete with simulated drinks and hors d'oeuvres and simulated staff to serve them. It's the picture of luxury and relaxation, and even the heat of the sun feels real as it beats down on palm fronds and thatched rooftops, the breeze soothing in just the right way.

The water is the perfect temperature, with the waves mild and gentle, perfect for lazy pontoon sailing or fishing off the pier. Unless, of course, anyone takes up a surfboard from the waiting row of them -- like magic the waves rise up into impressive swells, ideal for riding.

The simulation has been coded to reflect the time of day in realtime, meaning that as the sun sinks down outside in Oska, it does the same here in the training room. A bonfire is lit and gentle music is piped in for the evening, with the simulation continuing through the night and to the next morning.

So pick out some beachwear (there are racks and racks of provided sizes and styles near the shift from sand to jungle, and even several changing rooms tucked between trees), grab some sunglasses, and enjoy the beach trip!

COURTYARD

If anyone remembers the mounts brought to Oska by Uruz and Dagny last Recollection Day celebration, they're back again -- it's an entire menagerie of strange and exotic animals from all sorts of planets, each of them large enough to ride. From horses to horselike, from lizard to avian, there are creatures of all shapes, sizes, and temperaments. Last year the game was taming them, but this year they've all adjusted to their new roles in ALASTAIR with varying degrees of complacence.

Now, trainers are finishing up the mounts' schooling, and other teams are welcome to give it a whirl as well. An obstacle course has been set up, complete with tunnels, hurdles, water obstacles, and more. Anyone who manages to ride their mount around, over, and under each challenge successfully will be given a prize: a delectable, sugary treat with a commemorative gold coin inside (so don't eat too fast). Extra points to anyone who picks one of the ornery or dangerous mounts!

Also present in the courtyard is a new addition to Oska, but despite appearances, it's not intended to be ridden -- a gigantic, steel dragon lies peacefully in the grass, purple light visible between the metal girders that construct its body. Say hello to Oska's new guard: Hector Elmonor Iskander I, a dragon soul that Team Ambrosia rescued on a recent mission, who has been given a magitek body in exchange for keeping Oska safe. Although it may look frightening, rest assured that the dragon is patient and friendly -- still, though, it's not advised to try to use it in the race. Those metal spines are sharp.

OOC NOTES

Welcome to back to Oska! This event will ICly last for 3 days, at the end of which the other teams visiting the party will ship out to their missions and leave the PC team to unwind with Oska all to themselves. Don't feel obligated to stick to just this log -- this period of downtime lasts for 5 weeks OOCly, and we encourage players to make their own plots and logs for the duration of it! If you have any suggestions for gamewide mini plots during this period (or in general!), feel free to suggest them.

For information about ALASTAIR's HQ in Oska and what to expect there, please see here. You may also want to review the IC info pages, as there have been some additions!

For characters who were present during the Asterion Prison ship, their forehead tattoos are still present. They can be removed via nanobot at Oska's medical center.

If you haven't yet, please also make sure to review the mod announcement post about the future of the game for the next few months and beyond.

If you have any questions about this log, please direct them to the calendar page. Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's not strange at all to find Sieglinde in the library during their time in Oska. She even had a favorite chair. It's where she is when Jin enters, three hefty tomes on the table (Bog Witches of Arcgyila and Their Habits, Practical Uses for Heurophidium 12, and An Analysis of Toxins & Their Effect on Fertility), and one in her hands, (On the Inducement of Twilight Sleep).

Which must be a fascinating read, because she barely looks up when Jin takes a seat, only nodding and mumbling something like "go ahead" before she's absorbed in her text once more.

Until the loud noise, anyway, which pulls her head out of the book and sends her hair whipping about as she looks for the source, pausing in confusion at Jin's words.]

... live entertainment?

[What in the world did she miss?]

[Right. Sieglinde's so diginified-- comparatively, anyway-- it's not as if she's one of those high schoolers who run at the first telltale signs of a fight on a quad. (but he is?????? youre an adult kung jin)]

You bet. [Nosy as ever, Jin backs up in his seat, chair legs scraping against the floor.] Looks like someone from one of the other teams is getting into something with one of the librarians.

[He cranes his neck to get a better look, but to no avail: the squabble's occurring in the next set of shelves over.]

Didn't you have a big project in the library once? How'd you put up with those guys for that long?

[Getting into something... Sieglinde, who for a moment seemed rather titillated at the possibility, suddenly starts looking a bit disappointed.]

Just a scuffle? I thought perhaps you meant something more illicit.

[Had she been rather excited over the liklihood of maybe catching two lovers between the stacks? Maybe.

But at the question she looks up in recollection. Sigh inducing recollection.]

Team Squirrelfucker? I had to threaten to curse the lot of them.

Team Squirrelfuck--

--fucker. [He knew there was some sort of library task assigned to Sieglinde, but not that the team was actually named that. Gods.] Right. At least you know what to expect with a name like that. ...Kinda.

[moreover why is she trying to peep on some clandestine library liaison... He raises an eyebrow, expression one of vague concern.]

And, c'mon. If I were gonna do anything like that in the library-- not that I have-- I'd be a little more discreet than that.

It certainly did give me insight into the nature of... one can assume at least a voting majority of their members, yes.

[Though she'd only dealt directly with the few responsible for absolutely wrecking the Oska library, that name presumably was chosen democratically... gracious.

At his attempt at concern, however, Sieglinde raises her own brows in turn as if shocked by his narrow mindedness or lack of imagination.]

Who am I to judge the sexual scruples of other worlds? I have heard quite startling things from other races that run quite shocking to your average human, I would wager.

[But not to her, sexually enlightened as she is, obviously.]

Ugh.

[HE DOESN'T WANT TO IMAGINE TEAM SQUIRRELFUCKER'S PROCLIVITIES.]

Please do me a favor and keep your findings to yourself. I know you're the Green Witch and everything, but aren't you a little too young for all of that stuff?

[Nor does he want to imagine her as "sexually enlightened"...!!!]

Perhaps Asher failed to mention this to you, but I turned thirteen the last snow moon.

[And had a very awkward conversation with said Asher at said birthday party about setting him up with one of her nicer lady friends before he'd haltingly admitted to being with "someone".

Who she had found out was Kung Jin once the shock of Patroclus' death had worn off.

... more to the current point, she's real annoyed that turning thirteen did not make her a woman in the eyes of Audentes. (She'd been so sure this time! They couldn't possibly refuse her the acknowledgement until... eighteen.)]

[Yeah, he's not buying it.]

Oh, boy. Your teens. [Because he knows THAT'S sure a great time to be in... even when you're not stuck in interdimensional garbage.

But he raises a skeptical brow, and continues, not totally moved by her insistence:]

So when are you from again, Sieglinde?

[A teen on the edge of her seat waiting for menstruation and to pick out a father for her heir. Even better.]

Apparently the Outside World considers it to be 1889, in the year of their lord.

[But even though she now knows that to be true, it's not quite her time. Anyone who looks at the medieval gowns she prefers and the hennin in her hair would be able to guess that.]

My village considered it to be some three hundred years before that.

EVENT ★ RECOLLECTION DAY

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i didnt realize i had this hook available to me but now i'm doing it

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